U.S. court rejects TikTok’s bid to halt pending ban

A U.S. court has rejected TikTok’s request to temporarily halt a pending U.S. ban, which mandates its Chinese parent ByteDance to divest from the app by January 19. 

As reported by Reuters, TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals, seeking more time to present their case to the Supreme Court but was denied, leaving TikTok with little time to act. 

The court stated that they had not cited a prior case “in which a court, after rejecting a constitutional challenge to an Act of Congress, has enjoined the Act from going into effect while review is sought in the Supreme Court.” 

Deadline looms

A TikTok spokesperson said after the ruling that the company plans to take its case to the Supreme Court, “which has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech.” 

Under the law, ByteDance must divest TikTok by January 19th 2025 or face a ban. The decision now depends on whether U.S President Joe Biden grants a 90-day extension of the deadline. 

The Justice Department argues that TikTok’s Chinese ownership threatens national security. At the same time, TikTok disputes this, stating that it stores its data in the U.S. and makes content moderation decisions locally.